Variation in the physical properties of oat groats, flakes and oat flake flour – Processability of thirty pure cultivar oat batches from Finland

The aim of this study was to understand the processability of thirty pure cultivar oat batches and how the physical properties of oat groats and flakes affect the characteristics of oat flake flour. This was conducted by investigating the relationship between the chemical composition of oats and the physical characteristics of oat groats, flakes and flours produced by industrial scale milling process. It was clearly shown that the oat batches behaved differently in the milling process and that the physical characteristics of oat groats, flakes and flours were interrelated. For example, separation of bran and endosperm particles of oat flours by dry fractionation was connected to the chemical composition as well as particle size distribution of the flours. Furthermore, it was shown that flowability properties of oat flours affect the bran-endosperm separation of oat flour by dry fractionation. This study demonstrated the role of the oat raw material in the milling process as well as the relationship between the different mill products, which deepens the understanding of oat milling process and is important when aiming at producing oat products with high quality.